Doty syndicate



(No Model.)

H. H. DOTY. PROCESS OF DISINTBGRATING FIBROUS PLANTS. No. 443,904. Patented Dec. 30, 1890.

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UNITED ST ATES PATENT GFFICE.

HENRY HARRISON DOTY, OF LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THE RIIEA- DOTY SYNDICATE, LIMITED, OF SAME PLACE.

PROCESS OF DISINTEGRATING FIBROUS PLANTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 443,904., dated December 30, 1890.

Application filed May 27, 1889. Serial No. 312,323. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY HARRISON Do'rv, engineer, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, and a resident of London, England, have invented new and useful Improvements in Processes of Disintegratin g Fibrous Plants, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the treatment of rhea or ramie and other fibrous plants.

In carrying my invention into effect the rhea, ramie, or other fibrous plants are subjected to an acid fermentation. By this means the degumming or deglutination thereof, or the destruction of the tenacity or adhesiveness of the gum or glutinous substances and the separation of the bark from the fibers and of the fibers from the internal ligneous portion, can be effected without injury to the said fibers. For this purpose the rhea or ramie or other fibrous plants are placed in a suitable .tank or vessel, in which they are submerged in water having dissolved therein brown sugar, molasses, cane-j nice, or other substance which will cause an acid fermentation in the said tank or vessel. Heat is, if necessary, applied to the solution in the said tank or vessel, so as to maintain it at a temperature of about from ninety-five to one hundred degrees (95 to 100) Fahrenheit. In connection with the acid fermentation the process includes a subsequent treatment of the fibrous materials with petroleum or other hydrocarbon.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan of an apparatus preferably employed for carrying 011 the process herein described, the cover of the tank being removed. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the said a pparatus, partly in vertical central section.

Like letters indicate corresponding parts in these two figures.

A is a reservoir or tank of suitable dimensions, which is provided with a movable cover 13 and with a draw-off cock 0.

D is a coil formed of a tube of'copper or other suitable metal, the extremities of which are inserted into the said tank A, one close to the bottom thereof and the other as high up as may be convenient, both extremities of the tube being left open to permit free communication.between the said tank and the coil. The coil D is preferably wound so as to leave a space of, say, half an inch between the convolutions thereof. In or upon the lower convolution of the coil is arranged a grate or fire-bars D, or the said coil is placed upon a suitable grate. On the said grate coke or coal or other fuel is to be placed for heating the said coil, the supply of air necessary for the combustion being admitted through the spaces between the convolutions of the coil and through the said grate; or other means are provided for heating the water in the tank when necessary. For example, it may be heated by a jet or jets of steam. A jacket or casing D of sheet metal or other suitable material is provided around the coil D to protect it from the weather and to concentrate or confine the heat, the said jacket or casing being provided with suitable holes to admit the air necessary for combustion.

To provide for maintaining the tempera 'ture uniform throughout the liquid in the tank, two or more tubes or water-ways E are arranged at the bottom of the tank A. These tubes or water-ways E are connected at one end with a receptacle or chamber F,inelosing the lower or inlet end of the coil D. The said tubes or water-ways E diverge from each other and extend to the corners and opposite side of the tank A. The ends of the said tubes or water-ways E are open.

In some cases I treat the material in pits or in indigo-vats 'or the like. To provide for maintaining a uniform temperature throughout the liquid in such cases, it maybe advantageous to employ a pump so arranged that when the surface of the liquid becomes heated by the temperature of the atmosphere and by the suns rays the colder liquid can be drawn from the bottom of the vat or pit and discharged over the surface of the liquid.

The treatment of the rhea or ramie is as follows-that is to say: The said rhea or ramie, preferably in the green state, as gathered, is made up into bundles or bales, which areplaced in the tank A, care being taken not to place therein too large a quantity of the material, having regard to its increase in 100 bulk when wet. The said bundles or bales are preferably arranged in layers so that the .immiw bundles or bales in one layer are at right anchiefly designed for treating therheaorramie gles to those in the adjacent layer or layers, sut'ficient spaces being left between the bundles or bales to permit the free circulation of the liquid. To keep the bundles or bales submerged, they may be covered with wood gratings, bars, or boards on which are placed weights of stone or other suitable material. The tank is then filled, or nearly filled, with water, preferably cold water, as this facilitates the setting free of the gum or glutinous substances by the subsequent acid fermentation. Brown sugar, molasses, cane-juice, or other suitable material that will produce or set up an acid fermentation is then added in the proportion of about from one-half to one and a half to 15') ounces of brown sugar or the like to each gallon of water. The cover 13 is then placed upon the tank A, and a fire is lighted in the coil I) and is kept up for three or four days, more or less, the temperature of the fluid being maintained at. from ninety-five to one hundred degrees to Fahrenheit, orthereabout. Upon the application of heat to the coil 1) a rapid upward current will be induced in the said coil, the cold liquid flowing from the bottom of the tank A through the tubes E into the lower extremity of the coil, and after having its temperature raised in the said coil beingdischarged therefrom into the upper part of the said tank. The material under treatment is examined from time to time, and when it is found that the bark is sutliciently loose to readily separate from the fibers and internal woody portion the bundles or bales are removed from the tank, the bark and libers are stripped from the stems and the said fibers are well washed in clean water and then spread out in the open air to dry, or they may bedried by arti fieial means and treated like flax. The said fibers are then treated in a closed tank with naphtha, petroleum, or other hydrocarbon either in a liquid state orin the form of vapor, whereby the said gum will be dissolved. The said gum and naphtha or petroleum are then removed by means of a heated solution composed of about one part of crude carbonate of soda or of soft soap to forty parts of water. The fibrous material is then rinsed with water or washed with common soft soap or wit-h soft soap and petroleum in, or about in, the

proportions of one part of petroleum to sixteen parts of soft soap. The said material is boiled in this preparation for about one hour, more or less. This treatment is also veryadvantageous for bleaching the material. The material is then rinsed and dried, ready for the machinery and other appliances for treat ing it preparatory to its use for industrial purposes.

The improved process above described is or other fibrous plants in a green state, but is also advantageous for treating the same or the fibers thereof in a dry state.

Among the fibrous plants which can be ad- 'z'mtageousl y treated by the improved process maybe mentioned flax, hemp, and the leaves of the pine-apple and banana.

In treating Phormimn l'ETltlJi, or New Zealand flax, and similar plants it may be necessary or desirable to slit or tear the leaves longitudinally to expose the gummy portions before subjecting them to the acid fermentation as above described.

llemp and flax can by the process above described be thoroughly retted in from five to seven days, and may be subsequentlytreated in the ordinary manner.

The fibrous material treated as above described is applied to the manufacture of textile fabrics, to rope-making, and to other manufactures.

In treating grasses which have their tibers surrounded with bark the said bark should be stripped from the fiber when wet, and the fibers afterward removed from the woody portion.

It is obvious that apparatus other than that. shown in the'drawings can be used for carrying on the process above described.

What I claim is- 1. The improved process of treating rhea or ramie and other fibrous plants, consisting in subjecting the same to an acid fermentation and then to the action of hydrocarbon, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The improved process of treating rhea or ramie and other fibrous plants, consisting in subjecting the same to an acid fermcntzv Lion and then to the act-ion'of hydrocarbon, and then removing the gum and hydrocarbon by means of a heated alkaline solution, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

I The improved process of treating rhea and ramie and other fibrous plants, consisting in subjeetingthe same to an acid fermentation and then to the action of hydrocarbon, and then removing the gum and hydrocarbon by means of a heated alkaline solution, and washing the material with a mixture of by drocarbon and soft soap in or about in the proportions stated, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereu nto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY HARRISON DUTY.

Witnesses:

DAVID YoUNe, CHAS. B. BURDoN.

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